Odds & Ends Jan - Mar 2008

When the girls' school had an 80's dress-up day, SBK and CCK relied on Lesli (aka: The Eighties Lady) to help them out...
CCK with her friend Maggie...

I think Charlotte took this - I like it!
Charlotte joined softball this year. Here team's color is pink, so the girls chose the name "The Pink Panthers. Here she is with her cap...

We got together with longtime friends the Lyons and the Tabachs for a great evening out. From L-R: Dan, Rich, John, Mindy, Lesli and Dominique
Super Bowl Sunday we got up early and drove to a local ski mountain (Snow Summit) for the day. Here are the girls during the ride up...
...and on the mountain. It was a raw day with a mix of wet snow and rain driven by a harsh wind. We were happy to retreat back home at the end of the day...
Clowning around with dessert are CCK, Daniella Cooper and SBK...

Dan went to Atlanta on business, but saw his family, and got this rare photo of the 4 siblings. From L-R Dan, Linda Harris, Julie Nozaki and Scott Kendall...

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day we toured the Regan Library. Here is a replica of the Oval Office during Ronnie's tenure
A retired Boeing 707 that served as Air Force One from Kennedy to Clinton is at the library. It is very cool, and the interior is the best, though you can only take pictures of the exterior...
Perhaps President Reagan's biggest moment came when he demanded the Berlin wall be removed by the Soviets. A chunk of the wall is now at the library. I found it ironic that there is a barrier around it.

The library sits high above the Simi Valley with views all the way to the Pacific. Unsettled weather created rainbows. Here are the girls on the back lawn...

One January weekend the tides were just right to visit tidepools. This time we went to Palos Verdes...one of the bigger starfish we saw...

Lesli caught this great photo of the lunar eclipse. As with all these pictures, click on the pic to get a bigger view...

Lake Tahoe 2008

Over leap-weekend we did our annual 'grown-ups only' ski trip that Lesli organizes. From left to right: Lesli, Stefanie, Ed, Bob, Dan K., Liz, Noam, Dan M., Margarita and Rachel...

Here are Dan & Liz Mohler in the "before" picture...
...and here is the "after" picture. Happiness is sharing an ice wrap on your injuries...

On Saturday we avoided the crowds by going to the lesser-known Homewood Ski Area. Conditions weren't the best ("Do NOT go down Lake Louise!"), but the views of the lake were very nice. Here are the Kendalls...

Ski-lift self-portrait with Ed "Spiderman" Glassberg, Lesli "Helen Skeez" Kendall and Dan "The Condor" Kendall...

Homewood is on Lake Tahoe's western shore which also includes dazzling Emerald Bay...

We had a great evening out on Friday night, and a great evening in on Saturday. Margarita "Lucy" Cooper and Rachel "Your Special Lady Friend" Leiterman...

Ed, Ed's-Dan and Liz

Stefanie, Lesli and Dan K.

Dan "Mole-man" Mohler and Bob "Chris Baker" Cooper have enjoyed long and successful careers as male models...
The Condor & Noam "The Dude" Shendar are proud of their balls on the pool table...

Stefanie "Bode" Glassberg wins the compulsory talent contest...

Aerial coverage of our Saturday night poker game provided courtesy of Goodyear...

The Italian women - Stefanie, Lesli & Margarita - prepare home-made lasagna

Here is the whole gang at the massive dining table. L-R Rachel, Margarita, Stefanie, Lesli, Dan K., Noam, Bob, Liz, Ed and Dan M.

California Hot Springs - President's Day 2008

For President's Day weekend, Lesli found a neat spot in the eastern sierras called California Hot Springs - a tiny village nestled in the Sequoia National Forest. Abundant snowplay was had by all...




Here are the Sequoia trees...And here is the hot-springs resort. The geo-thermally heated water allows them to maintain a 90-degree outdoor pool all year round...
CCK and SBK taking the waters...
They kept the two hot-tubs at different temperatures by mixing in cold water from the adjacent mountain stream. Here Lesli & Charlotte relax...

Even our home sat atop a geo-thermal well. There was no water heater - water came out of the tap at a scalding temperature. The owners built a water tank just to have cold water! Each night we lit a fire & played games...

Mid-Winter 07-08

We kicked off the holiday season with Thanksgiving in San Diego. Lesli and the girls took Amtrak down earlier in the week. Here are the girls in the beautiful Los Angeles Union Station...
On Thanksgiving Day we celebrated at Aunt Claudia's with lots of family. Here are the girls clowning around in the garden...

The next day, we drove to Palm Springs and stayed with Margie & Van in their timeshare. Saturday was 77 degrees and sunny! We played tennis, took a dip in the pool and then went for a hike on the side of the San Jacinto mountains which abut Palm Springs...

Aunt Julie, and nieces Whitney and Kendall came to visit on the first weekend in December. Our good friend Rachel got us passes to the Eukanuba Dog Show in Long Beach and wow! was that a lot of fun. Aunt Julie took this picture of us resting after a lot of walking...
Before they left, the southern sweeties helped us decorate for the holidays...

December was a blur of school events: Parent/Teacher meetings, Christmas concerts...etc. Savannah is part of her school's choir and did a couple of concerts...
Charlotte and her best friend Alliya in their penguin costumes for their number...
Our Christmas break was a blast. We hosted a Winter Solstice Poker Party (any excuse to wager!), went bowling with the neighbors and hit a few holiday parties. Christmas morning at our house...
Santa was even good to Sydney. Here she parades around with her new toy...

That night, an exhausted and happy family went to sleep, their prize possessions close by. Charlotte...
Savannah...

and, um, er...Sydney
Our niece Kadie passed through town en route from Montana to Asia for a college study program. We went to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner...

The weekend leading up to New Year's Eve we drove to the mountains behind Santa Barbara for a few days of ranch-style roughing it with our friends from the Bay area, Noam and Rachel...


Noam and Rachel brought their horses and graciously led the girls on a couple of long trail rides. Here is Savannah on Juliet...
And here is Noam, Charlotte and Lukka. Lukka is an Icelandic horse which explains her size and the Wookie-like fur coat...

Rachel sensed Savannah's eagerness to learn and spent some quality time working with her and Juliet. Savannah LOVES Rachel and Juliet!

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the highlight of the trip: The ranch allowed Sydney to test her herding skills on a small flock of sheep! She was timid at first, but her instincts took over and pretty soon she was quietly putting the flock into a tight, motionless bunch. Lesli and I felt like proud parents! Here is a shot of her in the barn area expressing a healthy dose of curiosity at the goat behind the fence...
Instead of tent-camping, we stayed in a 1-room cabin at the ranch. No running water, but it did have a mini-fridge and electricity...
Savannah caught a stomach virus one night and (ugh) everyone but Charlotte was up all night. The next day we all took it easy and just strolled around the ranch...
New Year's Eve was quiet, but a couple nights later two drunk teenagers drove their BMW over the curb, over a street sign and into our lawn. The driver took off on foot. Here is her partner calling AAA...
All for now. Look for some mountain & skiing adventures in a few weeks!